Arrangement for producing thin articles



April 18, 1950 J. c. L. VERHOEVEN 2,504,283

ARRANGEMENT FOR PRODUCING THIN ARTICLES Filed July 25, 1947 I IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII1111111111,, I d 6 r0 /0 MMM Johannes C/zkz'sfz'anus .Aaurenh'us Jrhoeven m4 @04 7 Mac We Patented Apr. 18 1950 OFFICE ARRANGEMENT FOR PRODUCIN G THIN ARTICLES Johannes Christianus Laurentius Verhoeven Drunen, Netherlands Application July 23, 1947, Serial No. 763,007 In the Netherlands July 8, 1944 Section 1, Public Law 690, August 8, 1946 Patent expires July 8, 1964 7 Claims.

This invention relates to an arrangement for producing fairly thin articles, the thickness of which is subsequently to be reduced throughout their entire length or a portion thereof.

In the manufacture of shoes it is customary to employ so-called hollow arch members which may be made of wood, cardboard, or other suitable material. Such hollow arch members are worked up as supports in bridging the shoe between the heel and the front portion thereof.

Such members may be shaped like the sole of a shoe or may be of corset-like shape. The edges of the arch member are chamfered so as to insure a better fit with the remaining portion of the shoe.

Up to the present time such arch members, when produced from sheet-like material, have been fabricated by hand or punched out into the required shape, the chamfered edges being thereupon formed either by hand or with the aid of suitable devices.

The latter devices operate satisfactorily when fibrous materials such as wood and the like are employed but not when arch members are to be produced from dense materials such as cardboard,

leather, etc.

The present invention relates more particularly to an arrangement for producing arch members from such materials.

The arrangement contemplated by the invention consists principally of one or more punch plungers that cooperate with a punch platen or table, the punches being so constituted and so operated that the portions of the punched-out piece that are to be cut away come to. lie or protrude beneath the platen, one or more knives or planes being disposed beneath the platen and movable lengthwise of the punch aperture, said knives or planes serving to cut away the nethermost portion of the punched-out piece.

The use of such an arrangement makes it possible to effect the entire fabrication of the arch member automatically in one operation. It is merely necessary to place a sheet of material, e. g. cardboard, above the punch aperture and start the machine, and such positioning may be effected automatically; the machine punches the arch members into the desired shape and chamfers the edges thereof. Such fabrication is much speedier than the methods used heretofore, so

is not limited thereto.

may be a tendency for it to fall through. To obviate this, a closure plate may be disposed ahead of the knives and beneath the punch aperture, such plate being adapted, when the knives are set in operation, to expose the lower side of the punched-out article.

In order to prevent the article, due to its possibly slightly bowed shape from being cut off improperly, it is preferable to provide a pressure roller or other analogous member ahead of the knives, or between the knives and the closure plate. This roller forces the article against the punch plunger so that the knife which follows directly behind the roller is able to cut off only the correct thickness.

If the article to be fabricated does not drop out of the punch aperture of its own accord, the arrangement may be provided with stripper members adapted to push the articles out of the punch aperture or to release them after operations have been performed on them, if they have been retained during such operations. In a preferred embodiment, an arcuately shaped pusher member is utilized which is disposed in the side wall of the punch aperture and which, at the desired instant is pressed by means of cams against the upper side of the article undergoing fabrication, in such fashion as to cause said article to drop out of the punch aperture.

It is also possible to thin down the punchedout article, say over the entire extent of its surface. In such cases the punch plunger should be flat.

Although the invention possesses especial advantages for the production of arch members, it It may, in general, be used wherever articles of definitely defined shapes are to be produced of which the thickness must with a number of cut-out, superposed soles. By

the present invention, all of the soles may be made of the same thickness after the fashion of so-called split soles.

The arrangement of the invention may also be utilized for example in the fabrication of wood buttons having chamfered sides and which are subsequently to be covered with cloth. Other uses for the invention may readily be conceived.

The invention will be described in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, where:

Fig. 1 is a view partly in section of an arrangement according to the invention, shown in the: to be split, elevated protuberances may be provided in the plane of the plunger so that the 2 ShOWS the arrangement in the posi sheet material will be cut away thin at those position assumed before an article is punched.

assumed after the article is punched and the cutting knife has performed its work.

Fig. 3 shows, on an enlarged scale, the punch plunger used in the arrangement.

In the drawing, 1 indicates the punch platen or table, upon which a sheet 2 of wood, cardboard, leather, or like material is placed. Above this sheet is the punch plunger 3 which cooperates with the punch aperture 4.

Below the punch platen or table 1 a carriage i3 is adapted to move transversely over a surface 14 which is parallel to the punch platen. A closure plate 5 is mounted on parallel rods 19 which in turn are mounted for vertical sliding movement with respect to the carriage I3. The closure plate 5 is biased upwardly by parallel compression springs 26 positioned intermediate the carriage l3 and the closure plate and normally rests parallel to and slightly spaced from the under side of the punch platen or table I.

To the left (Fig. 1) of the closure plate 5 and rods I9 a follower roller 6 is rotatably mounted between end plates [6 secured to the tops of rods I! which are in turn slidably mounted on the carriage I3. The end plates 16 and roller 6 are biased upwardly by a compression spring !3 positioned intermediate the carriage l3 and the end plates 16.

Further to the right (Fig. 1) of the follower roller 6 and rods H a knife "I is mounted on a column 24, this knife being closely spaced to the under side of the punch platen or table I.

The closure plate 5, follower roller 6, and knife 2, being all mounted on the carriage l3, move together to the right (Fig. 2) on the working stroke. This however only occurs after the plunger 3 has punched an article out of the sheet 2 and has brought this article 8 down to the lower face of the punch aperture and to such extent that the portions that are to be cut away protrude from the platen (Fig. 2). For this purpose, the closure plate 5 lies, as stated, somewhat spaced apart from the lower side of the platen.

The plate 5 then moves to the right. The follower roller 6, which, for example is urged upwardly by action of the spring I8 wipes along the article 8 and imparts to it, at least temporarily, the profile corresponding to the lower side of the plunger 3.

The knife "I, which follows the roller 6 and which moves along the lower side of the platen,

cuts away the portions i0, ill and IU" of the It.

article 8 (see Fig. 3), so as to chamfer the sides thereof and decrease the thickness of the middle portion. The portions ill, l0 may extend completely around the arch member. The decrease in thickness in the center serves to facilitate the placing there of a reinforcing arch, e. g. in the case of a wooden arch member. It is also possible to punch a number of arch members disposed side by side with one punch plunger. At those places where the arch members are later places or even cut away entirely, in which case the arch members will be separated from each other at the same time.

After the knife has performed its work, it exposes the aperture, so that the article 8 can drop out therefrom or be pushed out therefrom by means of an arcuately shaped pusher or stripper 9 disposed in a side wall of the punch aperture and operated by a rod 23. This pusher member is shown in Fig. 2 (in dotted lines) in its extended position. Obviously this position is assumed only after the plunger has been retracted. The aperture can be cleared by moving the platen 5, roller 6, and knife 1 past the aperture, or by bringing it back to a position in which the plate again lies below the punch aperture. The first mentioned position is shown in Fig. 2. The latter position is assumed when the carriage I3 is moved to the left, with reference to the position shown in Fig. 2.

If the plunger should be flat, the thickness of the object 8 will be decreased along its entire surface, and this may be of utility in producing socalled split soles.

What is claimed is:

l. A device for forming articles of predetermined shape and thickness comprising a platen having a punch aperture therein, a plunger for punching articles through the aperture and moving said articles to a position in which the portions to be cut away protrude below the platen, and a cutter movable along the platen for cutting away said portions of the articles.

2. A device as claimed in claim 1 provided with a closure plate for the punch aperture movable in advance of the cutter to expose the article for cutting.

3. A device as claimed in claim 1 provided with a pressure roller movable in advance of the cutter for pressing the punched-out article against the plunger.

4. A device as claimed in claim 1 provided with a pressure roller movable in advance of the cutter for pressing the punched-out article against the plunger, and a closure plate for the punch aperture movable to a position to expose the articles for cutting.

5. A device as claimed in claim 1 provided with a stripper member for stripping the articles from the punch aperture.

6. A device as claimed in claim 1 provided with an arcuately shaped member movable in the side wall of the punch aperture for stripping the punched-out articles therefrom.

'7. A device as claimed in claim 1 wherein the blank from which the articles are to be formed is located above the platen and the cutter is disposed below the platen.

JOHANNES CHRISTIANUS LAURENTIUS VERHOEVEN.

No references cited. 

